does it really matter?

Biopsy

Thyroid cancer runs in my family. My two older sisters have been diagnosed and treated for cancer. When I went to the doctor last month for a routine check-up, they found my thyroid to be enlarged on the right side. After several appointments, doctors palpating my thyroid and blood draws , I was finally scheduled for a biopsy. Yesterday was the day.

I have to admit that I was nervous as hell to have a needle placed in my neck and I don’t have a fear of needles. I guess I was afraid of the pain that would result in a HUGE needle going in and out of my neck. Right before they began, I had an anxiety attack (a minor one…nothing serious) but the tears were flowing down my face. I should have brought someone with me for some support. Support I so desperately needed. Just someone to hold my hand. Where was E? Where was B? Why weren’t either one of them there?

Back to the actual procedure. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason, I had it in my head that they would only go in once and get enough of a sample to diagnose me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. They went in six times. YES! Six times! At one point, I even asked to see the size of the needle she was using and trust me when I say that needle was BIG! The worst part was the doctor kept leaving in the middle of the biopsy to do something else that the lidocaine kept wearing off. So she had to give me another injection every time she came back into the room.